Tools

Woody Allen returns to crime fiction in this ice-cold tale of a loose-cannon small-college philosophy professor (Joaquin Phoenix) whose mid-life crisis takes a lethal turn. Phoenix’s Abe Lucas is the personification of cold-blooded premeditation, reeking of Dostoevsky and Hitchcock. His Russian roulette scene once again underlines the actor’s knack at portraying dangerous, delusional individuals. Phoenix is supported ably by Emma Stone and Parker Posey as two of the prof’s sexual conquests. But this suspenseful Allen screenplay — one of his best — is not about comic cocktail party games and secret sorrows; it’s a peek into hell. A shiver-producing work of art (96 min.).
ByKelly Vance